Today in APIs: Private Path API, Wolfram's Siri Love and 18 New APIs

Path.com has a mobile app, so of course it has an API. Someone sniffed the traffic and discovered something naughty. And you know the answer-anything Wolframe Alpha? Find out why it really, really likes Apple's Siri. Plus: Facebook gaming, Google Plus developers and 18 new APIs.

Path API Likes Your Contacts

It all started innocently enough. I was thinking of implementing a Path Mac OS X app as part of our regularly scheduled hackathon. ... It all seemed harmless enough until I observed a POST request to https://api.path.com/3/contacts/add/. Upon inspecting closer, I noticed that my entire address book (including full names, emails and phone numbers) was being sent as a plist to Path.

1 in 4 Wolfram Alpha API Calls is From Siri

Siri accounts for about a quarter of the queries fielded by Wolfram Alpha, whose staff has grown to 200. Several large companies in health care, financial services and oil and gas recently hired Dr. Wolfram’s private company, Wolfram Research, to do tailored corporate versions of Wolfram Alpha for them. Microsoft also licenses Wolfram Alpha technology.

18 New APIs

Today we had 18 new APIs added to our API directory including a payment network service, coastal oceanographic information service, security monitoring provider, email marketing service, content management and marketing platform, messaging and mobile marketing platform, barcode database, san francisco real-time parking information and social network platform for workplaces. Below is more details on each of these new APIs.

BioDOM API: BioDOM is a JAVA library for converting native non-XML output from various bioinformatic tools to XML formats that can be validated against XMLSchemas. BioDOM is available as a download, a web console, or a SOAP API.

The API consists of four services (AlignmentML, SequenceML, RNAStructML and RNAStructAlignmentML) for converting native formats in xml and back.

CardSpring API: CardSpring is a payment network platform. CardSpring offers an API that allows developers to create applications tied to payment cards. Applications such as loyalty programs, digital coupons, and adding account information to a payment card can be built. The CardSpring API allows for integration with other applications and services, such as merchant and point-of-sale applications.

Public documentation is not available; documentation can be accessed with login.

CO-OPS API: As part of NOAA, CO-OPS (Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services) monitors, assesses, and distributes information relating to tides, currents, water levels, and other coastal oceanographic indicators. CO-OPS provides several SOAP APIs that return information on water levels, tides, currents, harmonics, station metadata, and meteorology for locations along the U.S. coast.

Decomp API: Given the mass of a DNA fragment, Decomp can calculate which nucleotide combinations are possible. Problems like this (referred to as mass decomposition problems) often arise in mass spectrometry, where the only information left about DNA, protein, or other sample fragments are their molecular masses.

Decomp is available as a web console or a SOAP API. It can be used to solve mass decomposition problems.

Digital Monitoring Products API: Digital Monitoring Products (DMP) is a provider of security and fire alarm products. They specialize in network solutions for centralized security monitoring in applications of all sizes. DMP offers an API for use by security system dealers and Central Stations. With the API, developers can build systems that allow users to interact with the service through their mobile devices or web applications. Developers can also use the API to custom brand their own applications. Full documentation is not publicly available. The API is available at no charge to dealers who subscribe to the SecureCom cellular service.

Emailvision Campaign Commander API: Emailvision is a provider of SaaS campaign management solutions for email, mobile and social marketing. These services are used to automate work so that users can run and manage their marketing campaigns more effectively.

Campaign Commander is software that lets users perform all aspects of email marketing. Users can view reports and analytics, plan their campaigns, manage portfolios on up to more advanced tasks involving segmentation strategies, triggered marketing, integrated email and social campaigns and much more. Campaign Commander also supports the management and execution of campaigns in 16 different languages.

Msgme API: Msgme is a digital messaging and mobile marketing CRM platform. It allows businesses to create interactive dialogues with their customers through the use of SMS, MMS, QR Codes, voice and social channels. The API is a suite of services that give developers access to the full functionality of the platform. Developers can manipulate data across subscription lists, create or delete campaigns, manage subscribers, pull content from feeds, look up account keywords, retrieve voicemails and interact with the messaging system. The API uses HTTP calls and responses are formatted in XML.

National Virtual Observatory API: The National Virtual Observatory (NVO) provides researchers with access to astronomical data from ground- and space-based telescopes worldwide. From NVO's website visitors can discover, retrieve, and analyze astronomical data from an international assortment of archives and data centers.

NVO offers multiple SOAP-based APIs that allow users to access resource metadata in the NVO directory. Several of these APIs are designed for use with the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), which promotes open access to academic data repositories.

NSDL Repository Update Service API: The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is the national online portal for education and research on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States. The NSDL provides a XML repository search server tool called the Digital Discovery System (DDS), complete with an API built on top of Apache Lucene.

When a user uses the DDS tool in conjunction with a XML repository, they can use RESTful calls to remotely create, update, and delete collections and items in their repository using the DDS's Repository Update Service web service. Client access to a DDS repository system and, likewise, the API is governed by a list of valid IP's that can be specified in the DDS's Collection Manager interface.

Open EAN/GTIN Database API: The Open EAN/GTIN barcode number database lets users query barcode numbers online and receive information about related products. The database contains EAN/GTIN/UPC/JAN codes and provides detailed information about the products that are tagged with such a barcode number. The API lets users query the database from their own web sites and applications. It uses HTTP calls and responses are formatted in TXT.

Passta API: Passta (Protein annotation by secondary-structure based alignment) helps determine whether a protein sequence is related to a protein with known structure. For a given protein sequence, the program returns a Passta alignment with associated secondary structure element information.

Passta is available as a web console or as a SOAP API.

Roci API: Roci (Reconstruction Of Conserved Intervals) is a tool for reconstructing the ancestral gene orders of phylogenetic trees. Given the branching pattern of a phylogenetic tree and the gene orders of the leaf nodes, it calculates sets of gene orders for the inner nodes. Roci can be used as a web console or as a SOAP API.

Rose API: Rose (Random model of sequence evolution) implements a probabilistic model of the evolution of RNA-, DNA-, or protein-like sequences to help determine their evolutionary order. Data created by Rose is useful for evaluating the methods of multiple sequence alignment computations and for predicting phylogenetic relationships.

Rose is available as a download, a web console, and a SOAP API.

SFpark API: The service provides continuously updated information about locations and pricing of available parking in selected areas of San Francisco. DataSF, the city government's open data initiative, collects and distributes the information to help drivers choose when to drive and when to choose other transportation options. Data is provided by off-street parking providers and by sensors that report status of individual street parking spaces as occupied or vacant.

API methods support submission of search parameters, including location (latitude/longitude and preferred radius), type of parking desired (street or off-street), and whether or not to include rate information. Returned data include the locations of currently available parking, the type, and the applicable rate, if requested.

Tgels API: The service searches across multiple flight booking sites and aggregates (gels) published information about special travel deals. It generates listings of flight options and last-minute airfare deals, with related information on package deals, hotel prices, etc.

API methods support listings of flight options, as well as creating and deleting flight deal packages. Requests specify originating and destination airports, date range, and other parameters. Returned data include matching combinations from multiple airlines.

Tibbr API: Tibbr is a social networking platform designed specifically for the workplace. Tibbr offers a variety of features for workplace content sharing, communication, and project management. Tibbr's features include microblogging, instant messaging, screen sharing, and customizable applications.

The Tibbr API allows developers to access and integrate the data and functionality of Tibbr with other applications. Some example API methods include managing users, retrieving messages, posting messages, and searching subjects.

West Midlands Regional Observatory API: The site acts as a central point where users can access information, data and intelligence about the West Midlands region in the UK. It's stated goal is to offer public agencies, private firms and voluntary and community organizations in the West Midlands improved access to well-​organized information with the aim of improving the quality of strategy formulation, policy making and service provision. The API lets users access the functionality of the site search service. It lets users perform search, configure the service, manage user profiles, logs and the sending of emails. It uses HTTP and SOAP calls and responses are formatted in XML.

About the author:Adam DuVander
The former ProgrammableWeb Executive Editor, Adam is an API expert now helping regular people connect them at Zapier. Previously he worked at API companies SendGrid and Orchestrate, and wrote for Wired and Webmonkey. Adam is also the author of mapping API cookbook Map Scripting 101. Find him at AdamD.org.